Page 23 of Shattered

The doorbell rang again.

“Coming,” she called out, moving faster. Out of the bedroom and into the hallway, past the living room and kitchen to the entryway. She paused to check through the peephole, surprise jolting through her when she saw Briar standing in the hallway.

Dread congealed in the pit of her stomach as she pulled it open.Oh, my God. Nathan…“What’s wrong?” She wouldn’t have shown up like this, at this hour, if it wasn’t bad.

The other woman regarded her in silence for a moment. “Can I come in?”

Taya folded her arms across her middle, the protective gesture instinctive. “What’s happened?” They were friends now, but it had taken months of effort on Taya’s part. Briar was slow to trust, and even slower to warm to people. Her coming here like this scared the shit out of Taya.

Briar set a hand on Taya’s shoulder and gently turned her around as she stepped inside. “Let’s sit down.”

Her entire body stiffened, alarm bells blaring in her head. “I don’t want to sit down. Tell me what’s wrong.”Please let Nathan be alive. Please let him be okay.

Briar ignored her, kept hold of Taya’s upper arm as she steered her toward the living room couch. Taya dropped onto it, her legs stiff, wooden, and stared at the other woman, a hard knot forming in her throat.

Briar met her gaze without flinching, but Taya read the sympathy in those dark eyes. “There’s been an accident.”

The word echoed in her ears. “What kind of accident?”

“The plane the guys were on hit something shortly after takeoff. It made a crash landing in a field.”

Both hands flew to her mouth, horror, terror and denial exploding inside her. She shook her head. “No.”

Briar laid a hand on Taya’s knee. “The team survived the crash, and evacuated everyone on board. Vance and Nate went back to rescue some crewmembers. There was a big explosion.”

Tiny pinpricks needled her skin as the blood drained from her face. “He’s not dead.” He couldn’t be. She couldn’t deal with that.

Briar held her gaze, her hand a comforting weight on Taya’s leg. “He was hurt really badly, Taya. They transported him to the hospital. He’s undergoing emergency surgery right now.”

Nausea swept through her, cold and oily in the pit of her stomach. She shoved to her feet. “I have to get to him,” she blurted, and rushed for the bedroom.

Briar was right behind her. “I’ll drive you.”

Taya didn’t answer. Couldn’t. Shock and fear clouded everything, and the blockage in her throat increased until she was sucking in ragged gasps. Her hands shook, teeth chattering as she dragged on jeans and a sweater. Her nose and the backs of her eyes burned.

She didn’t bother to hide or wipe away the tears as they spilled over. This was the cruelest thing that could ever have happened to her. Losing Nathan would rip her heart out and destroy her soul. And even considering the possibility of their child never knowing his or her father almost brought her to her knees.

But she couldn’t think about any of that now. Wouldn’t. She had to get to Nathan as soon as possible. He was a fighter. He would fight through this. She would make sure he did.

Briar was standing in the bedroom doorway when Taya came out of the closet. “You ready?”

Taya nodded and rushed past her, pausing only to grab her purse before flying out the door. “What injuries does he have?” she managed once they were driving away from the building.

“I don’t know, but it sounds like internal injuries. Head injury, possible brain injury as well. That’s all Matt knew when he called. He’s flying up here right now.”

Taya closed her eyes.God.But of course. If Nathan had been caught up in that kind of an explosion, all of that was inevitable. She appreciated that Briar wasn’t sugar-coating any of this, instead giving it to her straight. “Did he say what Nathan’s chances were?”

“No.”

“And Sawyer?”

“He was conscious when they loaded him into the ambulance. I’m not sure if he’ll need surgery. The rest of the team was banged up, but from what I understand, nothing too severe.”

Just Nathan.

Taya leaned her elbow on the doorframe and covered her mouth with her hand, fighting to hold it together while her mind conjured up nightmarish images of Nathan being blown apart by the explosion. Or burned by the flames.

She swallowed a sob, couldn’t stop the hitch in her shoulders.

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